Fan Controlling

**TheFuch** · February 27th, 2005, 11:15 PM

I'm thinking of getting a fan controller but a trusted friend says that controllers mess with voltage from the power supply. This is apparently dangerous to the other componets on that power supply. Is there any validity to this at all or is it pretty much impossible? I guess I'm asking if a fan controller can blow a PSU and whatever is on it.

**SoloCamo** · February 27th, 2005, 11:24 PM

I think what your friend means by this is that you will be running fans full speed and that will require more volts from the PSU. and if you dont have a powerful enough PSU for your setup as it is, that can cause problems. so what is your power supply wattage?

**yohon125** · February 28th, 2005, 12:06 AM

adding fan controlls shouldnt do any damage to your system. i have never heard of such a thing

**extreme_gamer** · February 28th, 2005, 12:18 AM

fan controllers dont (that i know of) pull a lot of wattage... you'd probably be alright using one...

**sweeper2** · February 28th, 2005, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by SoloCamo

I think what your friend means by this is that you will be running fans full speed and that will require more volts from the PSU. and if you dont have a powerful enough PSU for your setup as it is, that can cause problems. so what is your power supply wattage?

I would think the whole purpose of getting a fan controller would be so you could regulate the fans rpm's... i use one and i have my 2 (120mm) fans at full speed but my side 80mm fan i turn down so it's not as loud as full speed, but still is able to suck in air for the cpu HSF (which is on the controller as well).

**SoloCamo** · February 28th, 2005, 12:32 AM

i was under the impression that he would want his pc running cooler therefore putting all the fans at fullspeed by the controller. Personally ive never heard of such a thing as a fan controller and adding fans doing any damage to your sytem but hey my "scientific theory" if your psu if already being pretty much 100% fully used that the extra volts could cause problems. but hey thats all scientific theory

**sweeper2** · February 28th, 2005, 12:45 AM

they should run at full speed just plugged straight into a pwr lead, either MB or 4 pin molex connector...

**SoloCamo** · February 28th, 2005, 12:51 AM

i guess i just have some weak 80mm fans then -.- mine feel like there barely outputting anything.

**sweeper2** · February 28th, 2005, 01:01 AM

are they dirty ? odd, i have my side fan which normaly runs at about 2500rpm hooked up so i can turn it down to aroun 1500rpm, i can still feel the air but it allows it to be quiet, since the other 2 fans are 120mm and are quiet at full speed.

**TheFuch** · February 28th, 2005, 02:07 AM

My PSU will be 450 watts until I save enough for the 850 watt supply. What he meant was that changing voltage could destabilize the PSU. (I think.)

**CoonDawg** · February 28th, 2005, 02:11 AM

Question: How do you find out the wattage? I have an old power supply, but it says NOTHING about wattage, just like 10 differant things on voltage.

**sweeper2** · February 28th, 2005, 02:14 AM

might be in the model name... does it have a model # ?

google the model # see what it brings up...

**squeech** · February 28th, 2005, 02:20 AM

Originally Posted by TheFuch

friend says that controllers mess with voltage from the power supply. This is apparently dangerous to the other componets on that power supply. Is there any validity to this at all or is it pretty much impossible? I guess I'm asking if a fan controller can blow a PSU and whatever is on it.

This is not at all true.

A fan controller is essentially a voltage divider that takes the 12V from your power supply and steps it down based on where you've adjusted it. Lower voltage on the fan = slower RPM speed. Fans not connected to controllers run at full speed always unless they have their own sensors for things like temperature.

In any case, this voltage difference does not get reflected back to the PSU, OR to any of the other components. Even if it did, the PSU has a high impedance on all it's outputs to keep reactive spikes from damaging it.

Bottom line: If your fans ran without a controller, then a controller isn't going to change that in any negative way.

**CoonDawg** · February 28th, 2005, 02:28 AM

WHOA, I can't believe my old computer RAN on that...it was a Turbolink ATX-250 (250 Watts). Thanks for the help btw. Well, I guess I'll be buying a new power supply.

I never realized how much juice a computer used until a few days ago.

**extreme_gamer** · February 28th, 2005, 02:36 AM

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

if you ever need it, just enter in all of your components and it'll tell you what watt psu you need.. i would say go for 50 more just in case.. or even 100 or 150 isnt a bad thing!